The Empire of Love

Pray in this way… “Your Empire come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.”

Partners in Love-

I’d like to invite you into a theological practice that has been helping me think more deeply about the call of Jesus in our current age. What happens if we begin talking about the Empire of God, the Empire of Heaven, and the Empire of Love?

In recent months, I’ve had three different conversations with clergy who said to me, “We need to reclaim the language of ‘Kingdom’ within progressive Christianity.” I recognize the need to reclaim the subversive power of Christ’s proclamation that “the Basileía of God is at hand,” but I struggle to connect to the language of the Kingdom. I’m actually grateful that so many of us have moved to referring to it as God’s Kin-dom, a place where we are kin to one another and to all living beings. I’m grateful for the affirmation that God exists beyond gender, and is therefore not a king. I’ve also come to realize that “kingdom” doesn’t have the meaning today that it did to our ancestors who lived under the authority of actual kings. 

We live in an age of empire, so I’ve decided to try “empire” as a translation for basileía, just to see what happens. The fruits have been amazing. This shift has let me see more-clearly the Empire of God that is always breaking into our world, always at hand, an Empire of Love where neighbors care for neighbors and the justice of right relationships is the goal. It’s also helped me articulate the stark contrast between God’s Empire and our current American empire.

In his book Love is the Way, Bishop Michael Curry says that selfishness is the actual opposite of love. The author of 1st John says God is love, which means that selfishness is anti-God. With this in mind, as I’ve begun to reaffirm my allegiance to the Empire of God – the Empire of Love – I’ve come to realize that I live in an empire of selfishness. Of course, all earthly empires are bastions of selfishness, with colonial subjects subservient to the wishes of a privileged few. However, our country is led by an emperor of selfishness who worships selfishness as the highest ideal, and calls on all of us to worship it with him. I may live in his empire – as Jesus lived in Herod’s kingdom – but my allegiance will always be to the Empire of Love.

Thank you for being servants of Love, for being members of God’s Empire that is at hand in every action you take for love. 

Thank you, as always, for being the Church God needs for this time and place, a Church that is willing to try new language to see what it can teach us about our ancient and yet ever-relevant theologies.

I’m with you in the struggle,

Tyler